The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Gujarat, warning of heavy precipitation throughout Tuesday, August 27th. This comes after significant rainfall on Monday, August 26th, led to widespread waterlogging and disruptions in daily life across the state. Residents and vehicles were seen navigating knee-deep waters as traffic congestion added to the challenges.
The IMD’s latest weather bulletin predicts light to moderate rainfall in most areas with heavy to very heavy rainfall in some locations, and isolated extremely heavy rainfall likely on August 27th. Heavy rainfall at isolated places is also expected on August 28th.
The bulletin further predicts light to moderate rainfall in Saurashtra and Kutch, with a possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places on August 27th. Heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places is also likely on August 28th and 29th, with heavy rainfall at isolated places on August 30th.
According to the IMD data from 8:30 AM on Sunday to 8:30 PM on Monday, Baroda experienced the highest rainfall at 26 cm, followed by Ahmedabad with 10 cm, Rajkot with 9 cm, Bhuj with 8 cm, Naliya with 5 cm, Dwarka and Okha with 3 cm each, and Porbandar with 2 cm.
Significant rainfall was also recorded between 8:30 AM IST on August 26th and 5:30 AM IST on August 27th, with Baroda recording 28 cm, Ahmedabad recording 12 cm, and Surat recording 4 cm in Gujarat. In Saurashtra and Kutch, Rajkot saw 19 cm, Bhuj and Naliya each recorded 8 cm, Okha and Dwarka saw 7 cm each, and Porbandar recorded 5 cm.
The heavy rainfall on Monday led to a flood-like situation, prompting the deployment of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Thirteen NDRF teams and twenty-two State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams were deployed to affected districts to carry out relief and rescue operations.
“The water level increased in the morning, causing water to enter the Hanuman Bhagda and Valsad area, disrupting road connectivity. We rescued a pregnant woman and are distributing food and relief material,” said NDRF inspector Ramesh Kumar, as quoted by ANI.
In response to the heavy rains, the State Education Minister, Praful Pansheriya, announced the closure of all primary schools in Gujarat on Tuesday, August 27th.
